The overwhelming feature of the capital market in Yorkshire throughout the period 1750–1850 was its very local and highly personal nature. The bulk of short- and long-term loan finance changed hands within a narrow radius of some 10–15 miles and most lenders were personally acquainted with the character and affairs of their debtors. Usually they were related to each other through a family connection, by religion or through business – sometimes all three. The eighty-four loans, together worth over £89,000, which were raised by Gott and Wormald in the period 1780– 1811 are a good illustration of these local relationships. Of the finance, 82% came from the West Riding, 67% from Leeds alone. The two biggest single sources of funds were individuals involved in the same line of business and relatives of the partners.

The personal element and its influence on the size and direction of flow of loan capital in the community is particularly obvious in the business dealings of money scrivening attorneys and remained of overwhelming importance in the lending policies of banks until the mid-nineteenth century and beyond. Attorneys and banks were the two most important financial intermediaries at this time and warrant close attention in any study of the market for industrial capital.

Attorneys and industrial finance

Benjamin Gott & Company appear to have been by no means unusual among manufacturers in raising finance in the immediate locality, much of it through attorneys.